


Em Dash

by dogpoet



Series: Punctuation [10]
Category: Lewis (TV)
Genre: Cats, M/M, Poetry, Snooping, never let Hathaway name a cat, things you don't want to know about someone you work with
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-25
Updated: 2012-02-25
Packaged: 2017-10-31 17:06:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/346446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dogpoet/pseuds/dogpoet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While Lewis and Hathaway are in Manchester, Laura cat-sits. (Think of this as the little scene you get after the end-credits roll at a movie.)</p><p>This is the final story in The Punctuation Series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Em Dash

**Author's Note:**

> Beta by [Simoneallen](http://simoneallen.livejournal.com/profile) and [Luthien](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Luthien/pseuds/Luthien).

On Saturday evening, after finishing the shopping, Laura drove to Robbie’s flat. She’d only been there once, the other day when Robbie and Hathaway had gone over the instructions for feeding Em Dash. That was a silly name for a cat, she thought. Robbie agreed. He’d rolled his eyes and tilted his head towards Hathaway when he’d told her the name. A cat they both took care of? Did that mean they were living together now? 

They were an odd couple, she wouldn’t deny it. Hathaway in his holey jeans and Radiohead t-shirt, and Robbie in his dull jumper, looking as if he was on his way to visit his great-aunt. He was a bit staid for her, if you could call a man staid when he suddenly decided to take up with his Sergeant of the Same Gender after he’d spent 58 years living the straight and narrow. If it wasn’t so shocking, she’d have thought he’d made it up to get out of going on a date with her! Luckily, she’d stopped waiting around for him.

She let herself into the flat, feeling for the light switch and not finding it. She felt some more, and her hand bumped into it, lighting up the room. The first thing she noticed was Em Dash, sitting up attentively, watching her from the sofa.

“It’s just me.” Laura shut the door. “Remember me?”

Em Dash scampered away when Laura approached. 

“I see how it is.” 

Laura bent to pick up the food and water dishes. She washed them both out, using soap and her hands. You didn’t want to use the normal sponge on a cat dish, did you? Maybe they did. Laura was used to decomposing bodies and other things you didn’t want to mix with food, and in her opinion, you wanted separate sponges for everything.

She filled the water dish, brought the box of cat biscuits down from the top cupboard, poured some into the dish, put the box back, then got the tin of wet food from the fridge. The cat ate better than she did. Salmon fillet, the tin said. It didn’t _look_ like salmon fillet. Smelled fishy, though. She spooned a bit onto the cat biscuits.

When she set the dish down, Em Dash ran up eagerly and began eating, making little noises. 

“Friends now, hey? The hand that feeds you and all that.”

Laura watched for a moment, thinking she should get herself a cat. She’d never had pets. Ah, the golden years, making her consider pets. At least the ruddy biological clock had stopped ticking. Not pleasant years, those. Thirty-five had been the worst. Volume up, ticking faster. It had stopped just shy of 40. Thank God for that. And thank God she hadn’t done anything too foolish during the ticking.

She had a brief moment of regret about Robbie, but she forced it away.

After she’d put the tin of food back in the fridge, she wandered the living room. Definitely a bit crowded in here. A stack of books Robbie would never read. CDs he’d never listen to. She supposed they couldn’t exactly be open about living together — not while working for Oxfordshire Police — but the cat was an indicator. Now, looking around, it did seem to be so.

But she was a woman of facts, and she wanted to know for certain.

She checked the bathroom first. She didn’t consider it snooping. She was simply observing. The cabinet looked empty, but they would have taken toothbrushes and shaving things with them. There were two towels on the rail beside the shower. Still not definitive. More evidence needed.

Laura wandered into the bedroom, feeling only slightly guilty. Just a peek. 

In the bedroom, the bed was somewhat haphazardly made, as if it had been done quickly. Laura stepped over to the open wardrobe. Open! She wasn’t being nosy at all! Those were definitely Hathaway’s suits. And his ties. She’d know them from Robbie’s in an instant. There were quite a few of them. Evidence supporting hypothesis. 

Quite a few shoes, too. Conclusion still not irrefutable, however.

Curious, Laura went to look at the book lying on the bedside table. Pretending she wasn’t really prying, she opened the drawer. Her eyes fell on a tube and — Oh! She looked away and shut the drawer with a bang. Well, that answered _that_ question. She _had_ wondered during certain idle moments at work when she’d seen the two of them together. Hathaway wasn’t the most traditional sort, and there was no telling. For all she knew, they just cuddled on the sofa and called it a night! But you didn’t need lube and condoms for a cuddle. She’d underestimated Robbie.

Em Dash ran into the room and jumped onto the bed, licking her chops. She began washing her face. Animals were simple. Give them food, and they liked you.

“You’ve seen it all, haven’t you?” Laura asked, scratching Emmy’s head. She was definitely going to get a cat. Hours too long and unpredictable for a dog.

Em Dash didn’t answer. 

“That’s all right, you don’t have to tell me.”

On the wall, centred above the bed, was a tiny picture frame, no more than three or four inches on a side. Beneath the glass was a scrap of paper with something printed on it. Laura put one knee on the bed so she could get closer. She read:

 

**‘’**

sometimes  
’ steps in for  
what’s missing

‘ likes things said  
just so

sometimes  
’ tells the world:  
you belong to me

‘ needs ’  
as ( needs )

together  
‘&’ curl head to toe  
tenderly

 

What a funny thing to have on the wall. Laura had no idea what to make of it, but she did know this: Robbie didn’t have a poetic bone in his body, and if Hathaway was putting things up on the wall, there was no question he lived there.

 

_the end_


End file.
